Bill's illness takes its toll

Thursday, 15 October 2009

By REBECCA GARDINER

BILL DIMERY.

• Howick and Pakuranga TimesA PILLAR of the Howick College community has bowed out of his position at the school.Long-standing principal Bill Dimery has stepped down due to ongoing health concerns related to legionnaires’ disease.Mr Dimery contracted the disease in June while on an overseas trip and was critically ill in hospital for more than a month. He told the Times that the decision hasn’t been made lightly and he will miss many aspects of school life.“It’s been such a big part of my life for so long,” says Mr Dimery. “It’s obviously a wrench.“But when you have an experience like I had a few months ago, you think, ‘did I come through to carry on same-old same-old, or something different or new’.” Mr Dimery took up the position as principal at the college in 1991. “It is a pretty stressful job and after my experience I just thought, ‘do you need it?’. I felt it was probably best to make the decision to go now so I can get on with life and the school can get on with replacing me.”For the time being, he’s enjoying being “a man of leisure”. “You only get one shot at it – it’s not a rehearsal,” he says. “Make the most of every day and all that kind of thing. I am sort of considering the possibility of real estate. “I’ve always liked property and so on, looking at houses and things. We’ll see what happens.”• For tributes to Mr Dimery, see Monday’s Times.

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Bill's illness takes its toll